Prof. Esposito, a member of the discussion panel, shares his thoughts after the Penelopiad. Photo taken by CC 102 student, Amanda Crumpton.

The Penelopiad turned out to be as interesting and multi-layered as we had expected, attracting about 35 Core students and many more theater fans!

Following the events of the Odyssey from the female perspective, the play interwove the voice of Penelope and the voices of her twelve maids who are killed in the end at Odysseus’ command. It asked questions left unspoken at the first reading of the Odyssey, and certainly made a lasting impression on the audience.

Prof. Steve Esposito was a member of the discussion panel and shared his insights with the rest of us, emphasizing how:

the girls playing the twelve maids had such energy that they were a huge driving force in the engine of this play. Seeing this production made me realize the importance of their voice, and how , due to the shallowness of one’s reading, the importance of their murder is often lost when first reading the Odyssey. I will be sure to focus on this more when I next teach the text.

The Core would like to thank Prof. Kyna Hamill for organizing such a fantastic event!

In this compelling article, Los Angeles Times Theater Critic McNulty discusses the controversial topic of violence in theater. Here is a sample:

What is the line between acceptable and unacceptable violence in art? If gruesomeness is the criterion, much of Jacobean drama would have to be banned, including Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” with its graphic scene of Gloucester’s eyes being mercilessly plucked out. Some may believe they can identify pornography at a glance, but violence places keener demands on our sensibilities. Its artistic validity isn’t a function of how many liters of blood are spilled or how many limbs are dismembered. The question is one of gratuitousness. Or to put it another way: How does the brutality fit into a work’s larger vision?

… and since we are on the topic of theater, do not forget to look into the upcoming “Penelopiad” performance at the Boston Center for the Arts!! For more information, visit http://bit.ly/Zp8kvl

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/core/2013/02/19/charles-mcnulty-on-depictions-of-violence-in-theater/feed/0Margaret Atwood’s “The Penelopiad” at BUhttp://blogs.bu.edu/core/2013/02/12/margaret-atwoods-the-penelopiad-at-bu/
http://blogs.bu.edu/core/2013/02/12/margaret-atwoods-the-penelopiad-at-bu/#commentsTue, 12 Feb 2013 21:32:35 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/core/?p=2111The Core would like to bring to students’ attention an excellent performance which they can attend- on Sunday February 24, the CFA Department of Theatre will present Margaret Atwood’s “The Penelopiad,” a play about the women in Homer’s Odyssey.

The performance will take place at 2 PM, at the Boston Center for the Arts. It will be followed by a talk back with Core faculty. Sign up is in CAS 119, and is free with BU ID!